Available Courses

• Early Civil Rights

  • Teacher: Shep McKinley

  The Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s-1960s did not suddenly appear with the 1954 Brown decision or on Rosa Parks’ bus in 1955. Before Martin Luther King Jr. helped to lead The Movement, other events and leaders paved the way during the “nadir” of race relations in American history.

  This seminar on “The Early Civil Rights Movement” will explore the period of the 1890s-1950s during which white supremacists established Jim Crow, and white and black activists fought against it. As W.E.B. Du Bois and Booker T. Washington debated the way forward (confrontation or accommodation?), many blacks deserted the South (the Great Migration) and formed vibrant communities (such as the Harlem Renaissance) in northern cities. Not content with robbing blacks of the vote, civil rights, and economic security, whites formed a second, more national Ku Klux Klan and intensified racial violence. This explosive atmosphere formed the crucible from which the modern Civil Rights Movement emerged.

• The Civil War

  • Teacher: Robert Brady

  This course covers some of the major ideological, political, economic, and diplomatic aspects of the American Civil War in conjunction with the traditional military treatment. A wide array of material is presented to the participants from which they must select the videos/audios/readings, which match their interests in the era. Each participant must engage with four selections listed for each week. The emphasis is on thinking about the Civil War Era in a holistic historical manner through peer sharing of readings/interest/prior class activities via discussion forums. In the last week, the participants will be asked to review the various “meanings” of the Civil War for various American generations and to speculate on what “meanings” the current generations in our K-12 schools will develop for themselves. 
• Little Rock History Academy 2011-2012

  • Teacher: Jim Ross
  • Teacher: Laura Beth Arnold

  For centuries human beings have migrated around continents in search of basic needs, security, and new opportunities. When we think about migration we usually think about this movement of human beings from place to place. This year in the Little Rock School District’s Teaching American History Grant we are going to be examining what motivated people to move to this country, and once here, what motivated them to move from place to place. But beyond the simple movement of people from place to place we are also going to be examining how ideas, food, languages, economics, ways of life, and culture were transformed by migrations.
• Cold War

  • Teacher: Robert Brady

  The Cold War is a six-week seminar on the ideological, political, and limited military conflict between the United States/Free World and the Soviet Union/Communist World. It looks at causes of tensions, diplomatic approaches to a “cold war”, and the evolving issue of the utility of [military] force in the world since the introduction of atomic/nuclear weapons. The primary goal of the student is to develop an overall picture of the cold war as a period of evolving American diplomatic history and to discern how the tensions we call the cold war contributed to the development of the American military industrial intelligence complex, which is the foundation of the modern American security state. Students will read materials and use multimedia elements to explore the perimeters and developmental threads of the Cold War Era.
• Using Weblessons in Your Classroom

  Weblessons is a powerful instruction tool that can enhance any subject matter in the classroom. This course is a beginner course for teachers who want to implement weblessons in their classrooms. From whole class instruction to individual practice, this course walks teachers through using Weblessons throughout the lesson cycle. Teachers will design, implement and reflect upon lessons created in this course.
• Beginner Technology Integration

    

  This class is an introduction to technology integration into the classroom. At only six weeks in length, this class will cover a great deal of information in a short time period. Participants in the class will read articles, post personal experiences, comment on other's posts and answer discussion questions posted by the instructor.
• Advanced Technology Integration

  Technology can be integrated into every part of instruction. This course explores advanced technology integration such as Wiki development, virtual reality usage and advanced world-wide communication with other schools.